The Benefits of Eating Seasonally
I have been on a real food journey for over a decade, but I didn’t specifically aim for seasonal eating until the past few years. At the beginning of my whole foods endeavors, it already felt like I was making massive shifts in my food choices, and I felt like eating seasonally could be an eventual goal, once I had everything else “figured out”. Now, however, I realize that eating with the seasons is a much more simple pursuit than I envisioned, and has actually helped me save time, money, and energy in the kitchen, while getting the most nutrient-dense possible foods as well!
Seasonal eating is exactly what it sounds like - choosing produce that is naturally grown in that specific time, month, or specific season!
Today, I hope to share with you how seasonal eating can be attainable, why seasonal eating is so beneficial from a nutritional standpoint, and how eating seasonally can actually help lower your food budget!
What is Seasonal Eating?
Eating seasonally is something you’re probably already doing, without realizing it! Think of watermelon in summer, pumpkin in the fall, and fresh oranges in the winter - seasonal eating is simply consuming produce when it is being produced in nature! This is also quite traditional and ancestral by nature - before we had chain grocery stores, produce of all varieties was not always available, so the choices were to eat fruits and veggies fresh and in season, or preserve them through natural methods like fermentation, canning, jams, root cellars, etc.
(My Nourish book actually includes a page with a seasonal produce guide!)
The 5 Biggest Benefits of Seasonal Eating:
Seasonal eating gives better, fresher flavor!
Let’s compare the journey of two humble apples for a second. The first, was grown organically in a luscious orchard, picked at peak ripeness, and eaten fresh or baked into a delicious apple pie. The second, picked before it was quite ready, was then packed into a styrofoam crate and took a long journey in a dark plane across the globe. Which is going to taste better? It’s no competition! Eating freshly grown and harvested produce is truly an unmatched experience when compared to mealy, stale, or wilted produce. And while not all of us have the benefit of an apple orchard in our backyard (a girl can dream, though), we can apply this same general concept to any produce - the shorter the length of time from harvest, the more natural the growing conditions, and the closer to truly ripe and ready, the more enjoyable our experience will be when eating!
Seasonal Eating is More Nutrient-Dense
The more time that passes from our fruits and veggies being harvested, to being consumed, the more they lose their nutrient density. Because our produce has sadly already experienced a drastic decrease in nutrient-density over the last fifty years, it is especially important that we prioritize getting the mostnutrients possible. Fruit and veggies also have the ability to oxidize - which means that exposure to heat, light, air, and oxygen can turn them rancid (think of a banana or apple going brown), and is also a simultaneous effect of losing nutrient content.
While this information can easily be discouraging, I like to see it as empowering - by shopping seasonally (and locally from quality farms when we can!), we can help reduce the nutrients lost in our food as much as we can control.
Eating Seasonally Helps Save on Groceries
I was initially shocked to discover that eating seasonally can really help reduce grocery budgets - it sure seems like everything good for us is more expensive, am I right?! Eating with the seasons, however, ensures that produce isn’t going through a mark-up from supply and demand; if growers and farms have an abundance of say, blueberries, that’s when you’ll see those grocery stores offer better pricing and discounts on blueberries! On the flip side, buying blueberries out of season means there are fewer available, and retailers are charging more. Hashtag economics.
Seasonal Eating Encourages Variety in Your Diet
It’s no secret that getting a good and colorful variety in our diet can be great for our gut health and nutrient intake! Eating with the seasons ensures that we step out of our normal mold and is a great opportunity to play around with new and fun produce that may be on sale or available at your local store or farm. Diet variety can help support longevity, lower chronic illness susceptibility, and make your cooking more exciting!
In-Season Produce Helps You Feel Truly Connected to Your Food
Eating seasonally has been a great opportunity to learn how certain food is grown, as well as teach my kids about growing and harvesting! Especially if you’re using a farm or co-op, you may find yourself like I often do, with pounds of beets and no idea what to do with them (don’t worry, I’ve figured it out over the years 😂). We often forget that we live in an age of access and convenience, where nearly any produce we want is available at any given moment, but historically, you really did have to make do with your harvest and figure out how to use it! Seasonal eating has been a great way to slowly get into bulk prepping and preservation methods as well. It’s a lot of fun to take 20 lbs of peaches and turn them into jams, pies, frozen slices, and more!
How to Start Eating Seasonally
I specifically added a four seasons produce guide in my Nourish book, for quick reference!
I’ve also found a great trick on grocery ordering apps like Instacart, Whole Foods, and Kroger - they usually have a small note next to an item when it is in season!
It’s a great idea to just start simply - focus on a handful of produce items in each month or season that you want to incorporate into your recipes!
Farmers markets and other local shops can be a great opportunity for seasonal shopping, too!
Seasonal Recipes to Try
This is where I REALLY come in handy, my friend 😉 I noticed the coolest thing about my cookbooks this last year - each of them really does coordinate SUPER well with a specific season! I LOVE to share whole-food seasonal meals, because that’s exactly what I’m creating in my own kitchen!
My Batch cookbook is amazing for fall - it’s got all those warming, comforting meals like bacon & potato soup, fall-flavored baked oats, chicken pot pie, butternut beef meatballs, rainbow root veggies, and even pumpkin spice marshmallows.
My Fixin’s cookbook makes a great pair with summer: jalepeno cheddar grits, chicken salad, oven roasted corn, fridge pickles, and cucumber pico de gallo to name a few!
Tots is where the fun spring color comes in (with no food dye or junk!), and has recipes like vibrant teal muffins, purple sweet potato hash, zucchini bread (for those million zucchini you don’t know what to do with), bacon & baby kale quiche, and more!
Nourish, to be honest, is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. It fits really nicely into winter, with recipes like hearty chicken stew, dutch oven rotisserie, slow-cooked oven roast, and potato leek soup. HOWEVER, this book is jam-packed with all those staple recipes for any nourished kitchen, so we can’t forget our lovely inclusions like the cozy apple yogurt bowl, strawberries & cream oatmeal, pumpkin chili, fresh dill egg salad, mango & cream gummies…this book is for ANY season, truly.
You can also head to the recipes tab on my blog, for more inspiration!
FAQ’s on Seasonal Eating
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Frozen produce is a GREAT choice - it was picked and packed at peak nutritional value and does preserve those nutrients!
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Thank the good Lord, yes it is! Seasonal eating can help lower our grocery budget as it aligns with retailers supply-and-demand - when produce is in abundance, it is more affordable!
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Yes! Seasonal eating gives us not only the most enjoyable, fresh food experience, but also allows for the most nutrient-density in our food, as produce often loses nutritional value the longer it is from harvest.
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Search for seasonal produce guides, local farmers market items, and be sure to check out my recipes to help you get all those real-food seasonal recipes in your own kitchen!
To Recap and Wrap Up!
If you’ve been wondering what all the buzz is about seasonal eating, if it truly can support your health and your budget, and how to make it happen in an attainable way, I hope you enjoyed this post! There truly is so much joy in simple, wholesome food - real ingredients that come together in a flavorful and beautiful way, that we get to consume in freedom and then serve to our families. It’s such a gift!
I hope this can help simplify your journey - when I started my real food journey, I thought seasonal eating was an overwhelming, “maybe-one-day” kind of goal - I wish I would have realized how accessible and helpful it is!
